Creative Living is starting off the year strong with many donations coming in from our annual membership drive. If you'd like to take part and become a member of Creative Living and help us plan for our future growth, please take a look at the following membership message from our Board President Lucille Giannone:

Dear Friends of Creative Living,

Without you, we wouldn't be able to continue helping so many of the developmentally disabled in our community and beyond. Over the past 29 years, Creative Living has actually offered more than 30,000 hours of respite care for individuals with various developmental delays. Thank you for believing in Creative Living and supporting us over the years. But now more than ever, we need your help as our expenses are increasing substantially, along with the growing need for our services throughout Andover, Lawrence, Methuen, North Andover and the surrounding communities. People rely on us and we can't let them down. Your membership donations will not only be used to enhance and expand our programs, but to pay for vital expenses such as our daunting $10,000 yearly insurance costs. Without insurance, Creative Living would be unable to exist.

Creative Living is thriving and we have so many things to be thankful for...especially our popular "GetAway Weekend" which is the area's only respite care weekend program. This one-of-a-kind experience offers our guests a weekend of fun and friendship while giving their caregivers some precious time of rest and renewal. Many of these guests receive full/partial scholarships thanks to our members and other contributors. As many of you know, we currently have a successful partnership with the Andover/North Andover Public Schools. Our afternoon and weekend programs are essential for keeping students safe and engaged, while equipping them with the knowledge of how to live in their community safely and confidently as they transition to a life of independence. We are hoping to replicate this model for other schools throughout Massachusetts. But that's going to take time and money to develop. As a private, non-profit organization that receives no state funding, we're sending out a plea to our friends as we plan for our future growth. We continuously reach out to more individuals, their families, schools, businesses and organizations to help raise awareness of our programs and to form strategic partnerships. Please help us as we continue to keep the dream alive of enriching the lives of individuals with developmental disabilities. We're asking our friends to return the enclosed membership card or make an on-line membership donation at www.creativelivingandover.org. If you have any questions or would like to volunteer your time, please contact us at 978.470.3165 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. I thank you for your generosity and support and wish you all the best in 2015!